The Vitamin C Experts

"For three days I have been listening to talks about the value of large
intakes of vitamin C and other natural substances, and I have not heard a
single mention of the name Linus Pauling. Has not the time come when we
should admit that Pauling was right all along?"

-- Carlos Krumdieck MD to standing ovation at
1992 New York Academy of Sciences symposium in Arlington, VA

" On August 19, 1994, Linus Pauling, PhD died of cancer at age 93 at his
home in Big Sur, California.
The only person to win two unshared Nobel prizes (for Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962), Pauling, during the last 25 years of his life, became a vocal
and uniquely effective advocate for vitamin C and nutritional
medicine.
He has been given credit by many people for almost single handedly making
vitamin C the most popular and widely used nutritional supplement in the
world and for helping to significantly advance the fields of clinical
nutrition, primary prevention, and "orthomolecular"
medicine (a term he coined)."
-- Peter Barry Chowka

RESULTS: Strong inverse relationship for blood ascorbate (vitamin
C) concentrations with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, which
were only marginally reduced after adjustment for confounders or supplement
use. Those in the lowest fifth (< 17 micromol/L) had the highest mortality,
whereas those in the highest fifth (> 66 micromol/L) had a mortality risk
nearly half that (hazard ratio = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.84). Similar results
were found after the exclusion of those subjects with cardiovascular disease
or cancer at baseline (hazard ratio = 0.51; 0.28, 0.93). In fully adjusted
models, there was no evidence for an influence of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin-E),
beta-carotene, or retinol (vitamin-A) on total mortality. Dietary antioxidants measured
by the food-frequency questionnaire were not associated with all-cause or
cardiovascular disease mortality

"
Ames et. al. want to help us remain as healthy and as young as possible, right up until the end.
That goal fits nicely with the vision of the man whose name hangs over the door of the institute where Hagen now works. Two-time Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling predicted decades ago that free radicals, or other oxidants, were causing many of our problems, including age-related declines. That's why he vociferously pushed for vitamin C, a natural antioxidant.

But like most of us, he hated the thought of getting old. I know that because a number of years ago I celebrated his 90th birthday with him. I followed him around for three days, from his fabulous estate on California's Big Sur coastline to Stanford University, where he taught a graduate seminar on chemistry.

While delivering his lecture, the 90-year-old Pauling forgot something he was about to say. That happens to all of us from time to time, but the grand old man of science looked terrified as he stood speechless in front of his young audience. They probably figured he was getting senile.

Pulling himself together, he finally said, "I guess you're all wondering what we're doing over at the institute."

He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a formula on one of three huge blackboards that blanketed three walls in the lecture hall. For nearly an hour, he expanded on the formula until it filled all three walls. Then he turned to the students, who sat with their mouths hanging open in absolute awe.

My name is Pauline (Sarah) Sowders. I am 62 years old and had quadruple heart bypass surgery March 2002. Had incredibly difficult time recuperating. Disagreed with my doctor on treatment regarding statin drugs. My problems with statins were muscle cramps, severe joint pain, stomach pain, depression and nerve problems which finally caused me to take a medical leave from my job this past March. Some time ago a friend recommended taking the following supplements instead of prescription drugs:

Sept 1st of this year I found the following statement on a web site (can't remember where but thank GOD!). "Try this - guaranteed to lower cholesterol at least 18% in six weeks." 6000 mg. Vitamin C, 6000 mg L-Lysine, 200 mg CoQ10.

I began taking this combo in addition to the Fish Oil etc. on Sept 12 of this year. I'm not sure if the fish oil regimen in combination with the vit. C made a difference or if it was just the Vitamin C regimen. But, after only two weeks I began feeling like a new person. For the first time in years I wanted to do things that I had to force myself to do only a few days before. I began cleaning, cooking, sewing, working in the yard - just could not figure out how to work everything into each short day. I actually enjoy getting up in the morning.

I found the
Heart Technology web site a few days after I discovered this vitamin C stuff works. Really was having trouble swallowing 24 vitamin pills per a plus a blood thinner and baby aspirin. My regimin is now as follows: (so simple)

Two scoops Heart Tech in A.M., 2 fish oil capsules, 1 CoQ10,

Two scoops Heart Tech in P.M., 2 fish oil capsules.

Have stopped the blood thinner and baby aspirin. (NO MORE BRUISES! THANK YOU LORD!)

My blood test results from May 2004 and October 2004 follow. (LDL dropped from 203 to 161 and total cholesterol dropped from 290 to 248).

I had been off statin drugs for approximately 3 months before each test. The October test was done after being on vitamin C for one month. Both my doctor and I were thrilled about the latest test results, until he discovered that I was not taking any prescription drugs, at which time he said, "You're playing Russian roulette you know." Maybe so, but I doubt it. I feel wonderful and the proof is in the puddin.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a reduced incidence of major CHD events at high supplemental vitamin C intakes. The risk reductions at high vitamin E or carotenoid intakes appear small.

"This pooled study shows health benefits at >700 mg vitamin C from
supplements compared to no supplementation.
This ABSOLUTELY disproves the RDA and
the false idea that there is a 200 mg daily limit on health
benefits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - B Sardi

The Cochrane review by Douglas et al. [1], which is referenced in the Best
Practice article by Douglas and HemilÃ¤ [2], covers 60 years of research into
vitamin C and the common cold. However, the review omits pharmacokinetic
data that invalidate the conclusion that vitamin C is ineffective. This
conclusion is not derivable from the data presented.

The dual-phase pharmacokinetics of vitamin C are described by the dynamic
flow model [3,4]. Low gram-level intakes of ascorbate, leading to blood
plasma levels below 70 μM/l, have a half-life of 840 days. Higher
gram-level intakes have a plasma half-life of 30 minutes [3]. A large oral
dose raises blood plasma levels briefly: they reach a peak after two to
three hours, before decaying back to baseline. Frequent repeated doses allow
sustained high plasma levels of about 250 μM/l [4,5].

Douglas and HemilÃ¤ reviewed intakes that transiently raise plasma ascorbate
levels above 70 μM/l. A single dose does not raise the median level
[6,7]. Daily supplements would, thus, not increase disease resistance to any
great degree [3,4]. Single or double doses daily will not increase
background plasma levels, regardless of the magnitude of the dose [6,7].
Since plasma ascorbate is at background level for the majority of the day,
effects will be minimal.

There is widespread confusion about nutritional and pharmacological levels
of supplementation [3]. Linus Pauling, typically, described nutritional
gram-level doses able to provide a degree of disease prevention [8]. By
contrast, pharmacological doses used for treatment are, at minimum, an order
of magnitude larger and involve frequent doses. The doses should be at
intervals of three hours or less [3]. Treatment doses are described by
Cathcart's paper on titration to bowel tolerance [9]. To treat the onset of
a cold, the therapy is perhaps a minimum of 10 g of oral ascorbic acid,
followed by at least 2 g each hour [3,4].

Douglas and HemilÃ¤ give a misleading impression by not making it clear that
the doses they consider are not pharmacological. They claim that the results
of one study, giving an 8-g dose at the start of symptoms, are tantalising
and deserve further assessment. However, once this single dose has been
excreted, the protective effects will be lost. During illness, ascorbate is
depleted rapidly and higher oral intakes are toleratedup to 200 g per day
[9]. It would be surprising if this 8-g dose had a large effect.

Studies on ascorbate require appropriate doses. Douglas and HemilÃ¤ have only
confirmed that 60 years of vitamin C research has largely been wasted
because of confusion between nutritional and pharmacological intakes, and
because of a misunderstanding of the pharmacokinetics. It is essential that
high-dose studies take into account ascorbate's dual-phase pharmacokinetics.
The dosing regime should allow sustained high plasma levels to be achieved.
The claim that vitamin C cannot prevent or cure the common cold is both
premature and unwarranted.

"The most important development in the history of vitamin C." - Owen Fonorow

This new book presents a new model, describing the action of vitamin C in health and disease. It demonstrates conclusively that the establishment has misinterpreted the evidence, potentially resulting in epidemic levels of avoidable disease. [More]

GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS NO LONGER DEFEND THEIR DATA, NOW THEY
VIOLATE SCIENTIFIC PROTOCOL

This book presents a new model, describing the action of vitamin C in health and disease. It demonstrates conclusively that the establishment has misinterpreted the evidence, potentially resulting in epidemic levels of avoidable disease. The dynamic flow model explains the current results and points the way for future experiments.

The failure of the medical establishment to perform critical follow-up
experiments may have resulted in much suffering and countless deaths. As
Dr Hickey says, "If this book doesn't shock you, you haven't understood
it". For this reason, the book ASCORBATE lists the essential experiments necessary
to restore respectability to the scientific evaluation of vitamin C. If
even a few of the hypotheses are confirmed, readers will understand why
double Nobel Prize winner Dr Linus Pauling was prepared to stake his
scientific reputation on ascorbate.

Excerpt:

"A large result was observed in a small group, indicating the possibility of a strong effect. Conversely, if you need a large group to demonstrate the effect, the result is probably less important, as it affects a small proportion of subjects or the consequence is weak. It is easy to see that an experiment with ten subjects is unlikely to give a positive result for a treatment that will cure only one patient in one hundred. With a small group of subjects, you will generally find only the larger effects. "

"Large-scale double-blind mega-studies are the current fashion in medicine.
The assumption is made that by increasing the number of subjects, the work
somehow becomes more valid. Regrettably, these studies are borderline
science, as a large-scale study is difficult to repeat and replication is at
the core of the scientific method. Of particular concern are those studies
that are so expensive that only pharmaceutical companies are ever likely
to perform them. The way studies are financed and the potential source of
any experimental bias or error become more important with larger
studies, as they are more difficult to replicate. Replication reduces the
possibility of bias. A large-scale study giving positive results is less
convincing than, say, three smaller, equally positive studies by independent
researchers, in different institutions, separately funded and using
dissimilar methods."

Hickey is now challenging authorities to explain or stand behind their
previous work. The Hickey findings are surprising, and so far
his effort is being ignored by the
National Institutes of Health and the Linus Pauling Institute,
and of course, the Media.

During the 1950s isolated doctors around the world tried Klenners cure.
Those who used vitamin C at doses below those recommended by Klenner
reported no benefit; those who followed his dosages reported good results...
Klenner: "To those who say that Polio is without cure, I say that they lie.
Polio in the acute form can be cured in 96 hours or less. I beg of someone
in authority to try it." - Robert Landwehr

Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins

Citing over 1,200 articles from scientific and medical journals around
the world, Levy shows that many viral diseases such as polio, hepatitis,
and encephalitis have been consistently cured by high doses of vitamin C
given intravenously. While maintaining that lower doses of vitamin C
taken by mouth may have little or no effect on many infections, Dr. Levy
adds that high enough doses administered directly into the blood can
demonstrate clinical effects that border on the unbelievable. He notes
that large enough oral doses of vitamin C can prevent many infections,
but intravenous dosing is often needed to cure infections already
contracted.

Without hedging, Dr. Levy explains why, even in his subtitle, he uses the word "cure" as boldly as Dr. Klenner ever did:

"It is completely appropriate to use the term "cure" when, in fact, the evidence demonstrates that a given medical condition has clearly and repeatedly been cured by a specific therapy. . . Avoiding the use of a term such as "cure" when it is absolutely appropriate does as much harm as using it inappropriately. Not realizing the incredible ability of vitamin C to cure a given infectious disease just perpetuates the usage of so many other needlessly applied toxic drugs and clinical protocols. If the shoe fits, wear it, and if the treatment works, proclaim it." (p 15)

And this is precisely what Dr. Levy does.

"Properly dosed vitamin C will reliably and quickly cure nearly all cases of acute polio and acute hepatitis. Polio babies are completely well in less than a week and hepatitis patients are sick for only a few days, not several months." (p 19)

The GAA theory gives rise naturally to "Aggressive Glycemic
Control" (AGC) as a modality that, properly used, appears to have
much value against many disorders as stated above ." - Ralph
Lotz

Vitamin C is transported into the
cell by insulin. Vitamin C is a carbohydrate-like substance and is
the missing stress hormone as explained by Stone. Below, BG = blood
glucose: Glycemic Control.

Almost 2000 years ago in the time of Galen, it was observed that
tumors grew poorly or not at all in underfed (i.e., low BG) animals.
In 1972, Ely deduced and related to Linus Pauling a theoretical
reason why clinical trials of AA against colds and cancer might fail
because of the high BG levels in the affluent nations. The theory is
relevant to aging, birth defects, cancer, cardiovascular disease
(cvd), infections, etc.

It is called the "Glucose Ascorbate Antagonism" (GAA) and is
important in the "small" dose range (AA~10g/d or less). It says that
certain cell types such as leukocyte and fetal have intracellular AA
levels that are "pumped up" largely by insulin ~50 times higher than
serum AA levels in the surrounding blood. This occurs if BG is in
the low range that was normal until the 1900's and is still seen
today where the primitive (unrefined) diet prevails, i.e., 50-90 mg%
two hours postprandial (Ely 1996; Chatterjee and Bannerjee, 1979,
Table1). ...

After 40 years research, Irwin Stone
unfolds his startling conclusion that an ancient genetic mutation
has left the primate virtually alone among animals in not
producing ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in his own body. By treating it
as a "minimum daily requirement" instead of the missing metabolite
it really is, we are living in a state of sub-clinical scurvy whose
symptoms have been attributed to other ailments. The answer is to
change our thinking about Vitamin C and consume enough to replenish
this long lost "healing factor." Stone illustrates, with massive
documentation, Vitamin C's remarkable ability to fight disease,
counteract the ill effects of pollution and prolong healthy life --
easily and inexpensively!

"The atmosphere in those days was quite different from what it is today. The living process developed in an essentially oxygen-free atmosphere. Today the atmosphere contains about 20 percent oxygen, which is a by-product of the chemical reactions of photosynthesis. Early life forms produced so much oxygen that the atmosphere gradually changed from a reducing to an oxidizing one. This oxygen was toxic to living cells, creating the planet's first air-pollution crisis. The situation threatened to kill the living cells that had been so successful up to that point.

Nature developed ascorbic acid to save the living process from extinction. This same procedure occurred many times in subsequent evolutionary crises, so that ascorbic acid became, in a sense, the favorite evolutionary life saver. "

As you look at these
pictures
of vitamin C models from the Sherry Lewin 1976 book Vitamin C: Its Molecular Biology and Medical Potential,
note how the ascorbate
is the "hat" that fits on many different organic molecular "heads."

For example, when ascorbate (vitamin C) binds with adrenaline (noradrenaline) it prevents what would otherwise be a rapid breakdown of this hormone. When it binds with a cation of histamine, it fits like a glove, and this may explain why a nasal drip can be stopped within five minutes of ingesting high-dose ascorbic acid.

There is a picture of the arginine "guanidinium group" bound with ascorbate.

Sydney Bush

Dr. Sydney J Bush. PhD. DOpt. (IOSc. London)

Dr. Sydney Bush's passionate tome provides a wealth of information about Vitamin C. Dr. Bush is an optometrist who discovered that the eyes are not only the window to the heart, but they can be used to monitor reversal of heart disease.. He (as have many other eye doctors) has been able to measure the progression of heart disease in the retinal arteries.
It is generally accepted by the medical profession that the atherosclerosis eye doctors observe in their patients cannot be reversed. It is medical dogma that arterial plaques always get worse. Dr. Bush discovered that these plaques can be made to go away quite easily! After Dr. Bush saw that it can and was being reversed in his patients on high vitamin C and other nutrients (The so-called Pauling therapy), he became intrigued, informed and tried to spread the word in Britain. He was amazed by the resistance of the medical profession, National Health Service, etc. Just like Linus Pauling before him, Bush hit a brick wall of disbelief and suppression. Dr. Bush's new book is a product of his studies into vitamin C. It is meant to expose the wealth of knowledge about vitamin C that science has uncovered, but that has been deliberately kept from the medical profession.

"The genetic mutation that deleted the capacity to manufacture vitamin C in the primate line presents one vivid example of the countless genetic variations from which natural selection produced the diversity of biological organisms we know in the world today" - Linus Pauling (Pg 103, HOW TO LIVE LONGER AND FEEL BETTER, 1986, Paperback)